The BookJelly Podcast

The Golden Age of Literature: Why Books from 1870–1930 Still Predict Our Future

Marc Andreessen, in 2024, claimed in an X post that there is "so much alpha" in books written between 1870 and 1930. Is he right? In this episode, I explore one of the most extraordinary periods in literary and intellectual history - a time that gave us Dostoevsky, H.G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, Nietzsche, Freud, Thorstein Veblen and many others. From artificial intelligence and social media to status signalling, consumer culture, morality, ambition and technological disruption, these writers wrestled with many of the same questions that define our lives today. Why do books written more than a century ago still feel startlingly modern? And what can they teach us about navigating an increasingly chaotic world?

Grand Delusion | The Book That Reframes 40 Years of American Folly

For forty years, across nine presidencies, America kept returning to the Middle East — convinced, each time, that this administration would finally get it right. It never did. In this episode, we dig into Grand Delusion, a fantastic book by Steven Simon — a former Reagan and Obama insider who had a ringside seat to four decades of foreign policy. The book traces a chilling pattern: each president arrives with a new theory, builds policy around it, and leaves the region worse than they found it. Oil? Turns out, that was never really the point. This one is essential listening if you follow geopolitics — or if you've ever wondered how the world's most powerful country keeps making the same expensive, exhausting mistake.

Why Reading Old Books Might Save Your Mind

We live in a time where information is endless, but clarity is rare. You scroll, consume, react… and still feel like you’re going nowhere. In this episode, I dive into Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan Jacobs, a deceptively small book that quietly challenges how we read, think, and live. Jacobs argues for something almost unfashionable today: read old books. Not for nostalgia. Not for intellectual showmanship. But to deepen your thinking. Because when you engage with the past, you step outside the noise of the present. You stop reacting. You start reflecting. This isn’t a summary. It’s a conversation. About attention, depth, and why most of us are stuck in what Jacobs calls a “frenetic standstill.” If you’ve ever felt mentally cluttered, distracted, or shallow in your thinking… this one’s for you.

Lost in Thought: Why Learning Doesn't Need a Payoff

What if learning did not have to lead to money, status or success? In this episode, I explore "Lost in Thought" - a fantastic book by Zena Hitz and its powerful argument for learning for its own sake. We have turned education into a transaction, constantly asking what it will give us in return. But what happens when you learn simply because you are curious? Drawing from Hitz’s ideas and examples from thinkers and writers across disciplines, this episode reflects on intellectual life, solitude and the quiet joy of thinking deeply. If learning has started to feel mechanical or purposeless, this might help you see it differently.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop Review

A reflective review of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Set in Tokyo’s famous Jimbocho book district, this episode explores heartbreak, healing and the quiet role books play in rebuilding a life. If you enjoy Japanese slice-of-life fiction and stories about bookstores, relationships, and slow personal transformation, this book is for you.